NHTI president to step down at the end of the year

CONCORD — New Hampshire Technical Institute President Lynn Tolbert Kilchenstein will resign Dec. 31, the school announced Friday.

Kilchenstein has been with the school since 1986 as a teacher, head of the English Department, faculty president and associate vice president of academic affairs before assuming the president's role in 2003, according to a release from the school. The release said Kilchenstein's tenure saw the completion of a three-phase expansion and upgrade of facilities for the school's allied health programs.

The college doubled the size and enrollment of its dental auxiliaries program with the addition of a new wing to MacRury Hall in 2009, opened the Beverly D. Grappone Hall for the nursing program in 2009 and completed a renovation of MacRury Hall in 2010 that added state-of-the-art labs for its Diagnostic Medical Imaging, Paramedic Emergency Medicine and Natural Sciences programs, the release said.

The school's enrollment increased from 5,240 students in the 2003-04 academic year to a peak of 6,685 students in 2010-11, according to the school.

"It is time for me to explore some of my other interests and to participate more fully in family matters," Kilchenstein said in a statement. "It's an appropriate time to move on as the college enjoys numerous talented and emerging leaders; a highly creative community of teachers and staff; a relevant and rigorous academic curricula; solid enrollment and a well-deserved reputation for excellence."

Paul Holloway, chairman of the CCSNH board of trustees, said in a statement: "We are grateful to Lynn for her many years of service and leadership at NHTI, and for the important role she has played in advancing the mission of the Community College System of New Hampshire. She has been a passionate and eloquent advocate about the vital role the community colleges play in our society, for students, their families and communities."

The college will name an interim president as it searches for a permanent replacement, the release said.